Missing Rochester Area Kayakers Found Safe Near Wabasha

Wabasha, MN (KROC-AM News) - A rural Rochester man and his daughter are apparently doing okay after spending much of the night lost in the backwaters of the Mississippi River.

Olmsted County Sheriff’s Department Captain Scott Behrns says a woman called 911 around 2 a.m. and reported her 49-year-old father and 19-year-old sister had not returned home, even though they had phoned her around 8:30 last night to say they were headed home after going fishing from their kayak in the Wabasha area. Captain Behrns says his office alerted the Wabasha County Sheriff’s Department, which then launched a search for the pair.

They were located around 4 a.m. on a sandbar and explained they missed their landing while attempting to navigate in the dark. They also told Wabasha County officials their cell phone battery ran out after they called home the previous evening.